The former residents, who together seek nearly $4 billion, believe their families were afflicted by water containing industrial solvents before the Marines shut off the bad wells in the mid-1980s.
The government Tuesday disclosed results from a new study the same day lawmakers listened to emotional testimony from families about cancers and other illnesses they blame on tainted tap water at the sprawling base.
Occupational trichloroethylene exposure as a cause of idiosyncratic
generalized skin disorders and accompanying hepatitis similar to drug
hypersensitivities [View abstract or purchase]
Source: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, Volume 80, Number 5, April 2007 , pp. 357-370(14)
Publisher: Springer
After reading the abstract and the paper, we decided a layman’s summary was warranted. Here’s our attempt:
Researchers reviewed cases of severe generalized skin disorders and
accompanying hepatitis in workers exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE).
They attempted to compare TCE-induced skin disorders to similar
disorders caused by hypersensitivity to medications.
Not only was the frequency of skin disorders in TCE-exposed workers greater than the occurrence of such disorders caused by medicine-hypersensitivity, the TCE-induced skin disorders were accompanied by a higher rate of fever, hepatitis, and lymphadenopathy (swelling of the lymph nodes). [Note: For several reasons, the incidence rate/frequency surveyed does not seem to offer much predictive power.]
Patients suffering from TCE-related generalized skin disorders typically show rash on the extremities, face, neck or trunk with/without fever 2 weeks to 2 months after commencement of occupational TCE exposure. Some experienced recurrences after going back to their worksites. These findings indicate a clear temporal relationship between TCE exposure and the disorder occurrence.
TCE-induced skin disorders found in the review include:
Exfoliative Dermatitis (widespread scaling of the skin, often with itching (pruritus), skin redness (erythroderma), and hair loss.)
Erythema Multiforme (multiple skin lesions; can be accompanied by itching, fever, and general ill-feeling)
Stevens-Johnson syndrome (a much more severe condition than erythema multiforme. SJS typically involves multiple areas of the body and extensive lesion formation. The lesions can extend to the mucous membranes, thus affecting the lungs, eyes, mouth, stomach, intestines and virtually every major organ.)
Epidermolysis Bullosa (a group of blistering skin conditions. The skin is so fragile in people with EB that even minor rubbing may cause blistering. At times, the person with EB may not be aware of rubbing or injuring the skin even though blisters develop. In severe EB, blisters are not confined to the outer skin. They may develop inside the body, in such places as the linings of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines, upper airway, bladder, and the genitals.)
Also:
The reported patients were engaged mostly in degreasing, i.e. cleaning metal-made products or machines, plastic toys, electronics parts (e.g. printed circuit boards, transistor components, capacitors, or computer displays), socks, ink stains in a printing shop , or unspecied material.
Skin contact with liquid TCE is not essential for the onset of the disorders (i.e. TCE vapors can cause them)
These TCE-related hypersensitivities are totally different from typical solvent toxic effects in terms of unclear dose–response relationship, period of exposure before disease onset, generalized rash, fever, lymphadenopathy, and recurrence just after minimal re-exposure
Occurrences of the disorders have been reported from the USA, Japan, Spain, Singapore, China, Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines. The case reports from industrialized countries were mostly published up to 1990, whereas cases from Asian industrializing countries appeared thereafter.
–
For a copy of the full paper for research purposes, please feel free to contact us.
2. Approval of minutes of the April meeting. (5 min.)
3. Quick Reports (charter, letters). (10 min.)
4. Discussion with Dr. Don Austin. Dr. Austin is an M.D., an epidemiologist, and a co-investigator on the proposed View-Master health study. He will discuss with us the formation of the Oregon Cancer Registry, and talk about a few specific cancers thought to be associated with TCE. (50 min.)
5. Next meeting: September (probably Thursday, Sept. 27) (5 Min.)
Please notice that we are meeting on a Tuesday evening in order to accommodate Dr. Austin’s schedule. We are meeting at 6:00, our customary time, because the library closes at 8:00.
Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Hearing on Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing
on Tuesday, June 12, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2322 Rayburn House
Office Building. The hearing is entitled Poisoned Patriots:
Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune.
The purpose of this hearing is to examine issues arising from the
extensive, high-level contamination of drinking water at U.S. Marine
Corps Base Camp Lejeune. This is the first of a series of hearings the
Subcommittee plans to hold on environmental problems at Department of
Defense (DOD) facilities.
The hearing will include testimony from former Marine Corps residents
of Camp Lejeune who, along with their families, drank the contaminated
water, cooked their food in it, and bathed in it. The Subcommittee
will also receive testimony from the Government agencies involved in
dealing with the contamination, assessing the adverse health effects,
and investigating allegations of criminal violations of Federal law,
including the Marine Corps, the Department of the Navy, ATSDR, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Government
Accountability Office (GAO).
The San Antonio Express-News (TX) reported earlier this week:
The other day I received a call from a 58-year-old San Antonio man who worked at Kelly AFB from 1983 to 1999. He said he recently had a cancerous kidney removed, and he wondered what I could tell him about Kelly workers’ exposure to carcinogens that cause kidney cancer.
…
A search of the Express-News archives turned up a dozen columns in which Kelly contaminants and potential kidney problems were discussed.
The first reference to Kelly contaminants and kidney cancer appeared in a March 22, 1998, column in which I reported that extraordinarily high levels of two volatile organic compounds — perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) — had been found in groundwater near Kelly.
For decades, TCE and PCE were used as degreasers at the base.
…
Last fall, in a summary of Kelly findings, federal researchers noted:
1. During 1990-1994, liver, kidney and lung cancer incidence rates in neighborhoods around Kelly were higher than incidence rates found in demographically similar neighborhoods in Texas.
2. Those cancers “could have been the result of past exposures” to Kelly contaminants.
It seems reasonable to conclude that the same might be said about the cancers of longtime Kelly workers.
Neighbors in Cortlandville found out Tuesday night that the government
is going to help them stay safe from a dangerous chemical.
Trichloroethene, or TCE, has been in the water table for years in
Cortlandville. It was used as a degreaser at the old Smith Corona
typewriter factory. The problem went unchecked for years before new
regulations were enforced. TCE is associated with nerve, kidney, and
liver damage.
TCE vapors have been rising into homes through the soil. At a public
meeting Tuesday night, Department of Environmental Conservation showed
new test results, showing the contaminated area [see map] hasn’t moved much from
where it has been for years.
Lastly, for the record, TCE is associated with more than just nerve, kidney, and liver damage. It has been associated with numerous types of cancer and birth defects. It has been associated with immune system changes as well as cardiac and neurological problems. It has plagued exposed communities across the country. See here for all of our posts related to TCE’s Health Effects.
A vat of trichloroethylene (TCE) spilled onto 2 men in Sunset Hills, MO last week. This week, one of those men died from his injuries. (Thanks for the pointer Jill)
Back in April, the EPA promulgated new, more stringent emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants. Trichloroethylene (TCE) was one of the pollutants impacted by these new standards*.
At the same time, EPA carved out exemptions in the new standards allowing certain industries to simply opt out of compliance because of “technological challenges and high costs.” The narrow tube industry was one of these industries**. Hence, the narrow tube industry was exempted from reducing its TCE emissions.
This exemption did not sit well with the Board of Supervisors in Lower Providence, Pennsylvania. Lower Providence includes the towns of Collegeville and Trappe, both ranked as having higher TCE levels in their ambient air than most towns in the state…and both happen to be home to narrow tube manufacturers who emit lots of TCE. Today, in a strong rebuke, the Board unanimously passed a resolution opposing the EPA’s exemption.
At this time, it is unclear what impact this will have on the narrow tube manufacturers TCE emissions in Collegeville and Trappe.
–
* We owe readers more detail on this. As with other things we’re backed up on, it’s coming. Swear.
** EPA received significant comments on the proposed standards from four industry sectors: the aerospace manufacture and maintenance industry, the narrow tubing manufacturing industry, industries that use continuous web cleaning machines, and a major military equipment maintenance facility. These industries commented that they would face serious technological challenges and high costs if the proposal were finalized. All four were granted exemptions.
According to the East Valley Tribune (Scottsdale, AZ), a former Scottsdale resident petitioned the ATSDR to determine if cancer rates in the area are elevated:
“Those of us who were developing children in the NIBW [the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund site] would like to know definitively if there is a higher rate of cancer among our population,” Oberlender wrote in a request to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
The petition, submitted in January, is being reviewed to determine if more evidence is needed, said Charles Green, a disease registry spokesman. A response is expected in early April.
The Superfund site is 13-square-mile area in Scottsdale and Tempe. It is bounded roughly by the Salt River on the south, Chaparral Road on the north, Scottsdale Road on the west and Loop 101 on the east.
TCE, or trichloroethylene, was used to clean circuit boards beginning in the 1950s. It was dumped down dry wells, sewers and into leaching beds for three decades until it was discovered in 1981 in five drinking water wells that serve Scottsdale.
The wells, three of which were owned by Phoenix until Scottsdale purchased them in 1987, were closed immediately, but concentrations of TCE were as high as 390 parts per billion near the time they were shut, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The federal standard for drinking water is less than 5 parts per billion.
Four companies — Motorola, GlaxoSmithKline, Salt River Project and SMI Holding, formerly Siemens — have claimed the lion’s share of the more than $100 million in cleanup costs. Between 1981 and June 2006, an estimated 61.3 billion gallons of groundwater from the site were pumped and treated to remove an estimated 56,800 pounds of TCE.
It is expected to take 20 more years to clean up 90 percent of all the TCE in the groundwater, said Dennis Shirley, project coordinator for the companies.
[...]
Oberlender, who lives in Blacksburg, Va., particularly takes issue with a Superfund fact sheet Scottsdale posts online that says “trace” amounts of industrial chemicals, primarily TCE, were found in two of Scottsdale’s drinking water wells. Three wells owned by Phoenix that supplied water to Scottsdale residents for decades were some of the most contaminated. But the city does not reference those in its fact sheet, Oberlender said.
“Some Scottsdale residents are under the false impression that they did not drink the contaminated water because they paid their water bills to the city of Phoenix,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey, D-Hurley: “It is something that needs to be done.”
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.: “The people of Endicott deserve answers. I also believe that IBM should provide free and open access to the records that the researchers need.”
Read the full article in the Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY).
Black arrows point to EPA ID’d hazardous waste sites.
Green circles represent areas around the sites where toxic plume
migration may have occurred and where vapor intrusion may be a concern
(Note: Obviously toxins don’t spread in perfect circles. This is not intended to portray the exact migration of Cheshire’s plumes.)
Red numbered circles represent areas where cancer reports rec’d
through Cancerincheshire.com appear most greatly concentrated.
Health Consultation – Health Statistics Review Follow-up (Public Comment Draft) – March 26, 2007 – NEW
Information Sheet – Health Statistics Review Follow-up (Public Comment Draft) – March 26, 2007 – NEW
Written Response Form – Health Statistics Review Follow-up (PDF, 11KB, 1pg.) – March 26, 2007 – NEW
From the Information Sheet:
What is a health statistics review?
A health statistics review uses existing health data from data sources like birth certificates and health registries to determine whether health outcomes in a particular community are occurring at higher, lower, or about the same level compared to statewide or national levels after taking into account the age, race, and sex of individuals in the community. A health statistics review does not tell us why elevations or deficits in health outcomes exist and can not prove whether there is a cause and effect relationship between exposure to chemicals and health outcomes. While a health statistics review can take risk factors commonly found on health records into account, a health statistics review may not be able to take into account certain individual risk factors for health outcomes such as medical history, genetics and occupational exposures which may explain the elevations or deficits. Rather a health statistics review can generate hypotheses and may indicate whether a more rigorous study should be considered. This health statistics review follow-up is the second major report resulting from the step-wise approach to addressing health outcome concerns related to environmental contamination in Endicott, NY.
Why was a health statistics review conducted?
A health statistics review was conducted because of concerns about possible exposures to chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Groundwater in the Endicott area is contaminated with VOCs from leaks and spills associated with local industry and commercial businesses. Trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) are two main VOCs of concern in the area. The VOCs moved from the contaminated groundwater into air spaces in the soil and then into indoor air through cracks in foundations in some buildings, a process known as soil vapor intrusion. Because of possible health concerns, the New York State Department of Health conducted the prior health statistics review and the health statistics review follow-up.
The follow-up health statistics review gathered additional detailed information to see if known risk factors may have played a role in the higher than expected levels of health outcomes shown in the previous review. The follow-up looked at individual birth defect records, birth certificates, cancer records, and death certificates to find information about risk factors such as smoking, occupational history, family medical history, and medication use. Newspaper obituaries, Motor Vehicle records, city directories, and telephone directories were used to trace residential histories.
The follow-up also reviewed two additional birth outcomes, conotruncal heart defects (specific defects of the heart’s outflow region) and stillbirths. The scientific literature suggests that both of these outcomes may be associated with TCE exposures. The follow-up also reviewed cancer incidence for all types of cancer, taking account of race. Findings from the follow-up review as well as the findings from the prior review were used to guide the development of possible options for next steps.
More on this from us to come. For now, check out this article from today’s Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY) regarding the discussion at Tuesday’s meeting:
Federal health officials are proposing a $3.1 million study delving into IBM personnel records to determine the cancer rate among 28,000 employees who might have been exposed to chemicals at the Endicott plant since the 1960s.
Lynne Pinkterton, an official with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said the agency could combine information from personnel and industrial hygiene records kept for decades at the plant to determine cancer rates of people working in manufacturing and in various departments.
The information would address a long-standing question about whether IBM workers who faced exposure to chemicals, including trichloroethylene (TCE), were more likely than other people to become ill.
The interest in chemical exposure became more intense in the Southern Tier after the 2003 discovery that a subterranean plume of trichloroethylene and similar chemicals was flowing from the micro electronics plant on North Street and forming gases that pushed into hundreds of basements through a process called vapor intrusion. IBM sold the plant to Huron Real Estate Associates in 2002.
Were factors other than pollution — such as smoking or occupational exposure — responsible?
Were women living in the area more prone to miscarriages?
Tuesday night, scientists working on the problem with federal and state agencies are scheduled to release their latest findings regarding these and other questions to a citizens group — called the Western Broome Environmental Stakeholders Coalition — and discuss future plans.
Presenters will include representatives from the federal Agency of Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, the state Department of Health and the federal National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health.
According to info printed along with the article, the preso is scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 6:00 pm at:
The folks near Rocketdyne apparently have way more to be concerned with than just TCE or perchlorate contamination. According to this front-page story from Friday’s Los Angeles Times:
Radioactive emissions from a 1959 nuclear accident at a research lab near Simi Valley appear to have been much greater than previously suspected and could have resulted in hundreds of cancers in surrounding communities, according to a study released Thursday.
Chemical contamination from rocket engine testing at the site continues to threaten soil and groundwater in the area around Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory, the study also found.
The nuclear meltdown, which remained virtually unknown to the public until 1979, could have caused between 260 and 1,800 cases of cancer “over a period of many decades,” the study concluded.
But the advisory panel that oversaw the five-year study, conducted by an independent team of scientists and health experts, said it could not offer more specifics about potential exposure to carcinogens because the Department of Energy and Rocketdyne’s owner, Boeing Co., did not provide key information.
“This lack of candor … makes characterization of the potential health impacts of past accidents and releases extremely difficult,” the panel concluded.
AP Reports also add:
The lab’s former owner, Rocketdyne, has said for years that no significant radiation was released. But the independent advisory panel said the incident released nearly 459 times more radiation than a similar one at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island in 1979.
[...]
The Energy Department, Boeing [the site's current owner] and the state have been involved in efforts to decontaminate the site. The state has estimated that more than 1.73 million gallons of toxic trichloroethylene was dumped on the grounds and that 500,000 gallons have saturated the bedrock beneath the lab.
The panel concluded local soil and groundwater also may have been contaminated. The rocket fuel additive perchlorate has been found in a well, but Boeing has disputed assertions it came from the lab. Long-term exposure to high levels of perchlorate can cause thyroid problems.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has released a video about the brain cancer investigation/study of Pratt & Whitney workers in CT.
Though the video suggests various chemicals may have been at play, the investigation has focused on exposure to TCE.
See the video here. Also be sure to visit Worked to Death for more on the P & W investigation and study.
When this blog first launched, we created a topic category called “Health Effects”. This was one of many topic categories we included to enable readers to find pertinent information more easily (see the list of “Topics” to the left).
Over time, we have realized that many of our readers have a particular interest in the way TCE (or related solvents) impacts specific organs in the body — and what is known about its relationship to particular diseases. As such, we’ve decided to begin categorizing health effects information (articles, studies, resources, etc) by target site/organ in the body. In doing so, we’ve created a number of new Health Effects categories. In a few cases, we’ve created specific disease categories, such as Lymphomas or Leukemia.
Want to know how TCE effects the brain? Click on Health Effects – Brain. The heart? Click on Health Effects – Heart. Want to to see all posts related to all health effects? Choose Health Effects – All.
At the moment, you’ll notice these categories are relatively empty. It may take us a few days or more to re-categorize all of our old health effects-related posts. In addition, as we publish new items related to specific health effects in the future, you will be able to find them in these new categories. Over time, we hope to add as many resources as possible in each category so that the TCE Blog continues to be a useful online resource.
Note: If there are resources (or categories) you would like to see added to our library of health effects information, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Also, please don’t hesitate to shout if you think there is a better/easier way to organize this information.
A recently published article from CancerConsultants.com reports:
Occupational Solvents May Increase Risk of Lymphoma
Researchers from Italy have reported that occupational exposure to solvents such as benzene, xylene, and toluene may increase the risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL). The details of this case-control study were published in Epidemiology .
[...]
Many, but not all, studies show a consistent link between woodworking and Hodgkin’s disease . Trichloroethylene is an organic chemical used in dry cleaning, metal degreasing and as a solvent for oils and resins and has been identified to cause liver and kidney cancer in animals. Exposure to trichloroethylene has been associated with an increased chance of developing Hodgkin’s disease and other cancers. Machinists in the metal working industry have also been reported to have a higher than average incidence of Hodgkin’s disease. Exposure to pesticides has been associated with an increased incidence of Hodgkin’s disease in some, but not all, clinical studies. It has also been known for some time that young adults with infectious mononucleosis are at increased risk for the development of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The following meeting announcement was recently posted to the Worked to Death website, a resource for information about the investigation/legal efforts and scientific study surrounding an outrageously high incidence of brain cancer (particularly glioblastoma multiforme) across Connecticut’s Pratt and Whitney Aircraft plants where trichloroethylene is one of the main toxins of concern.
WORKED TO DEATH ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE
BRAIN TUMOR CLUSTER STUDY
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2006, 7:00 PM TO 10:00 PM
WHERE: THE CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL, 100 BERLIN ROAD,
CROMWELL CT (860-635-2000)
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC PLEASE ATTEND
By way of background, the following introduction can be found on the recently updated Worked to Death website:
Hi, let us introduce ourselves, we are Carol Shea and Kate Greco, wives of John Shea and John Greco. Our husbands were friends and co-workers for over 30 years at Prattt and Whitney Aircraft. They both lost their lives within one month of each other to a VERY RARE form of brain cancer, GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME.
The Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) primary brain tumor is one of the most malignant and difficult brain tumors to treat. It is also a very rare type of tumor. According to the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, www.cbtrus.org, GBM’s strike an average of 2.96 people per 100,000 – less than .003 percent – every year. The State Health Department, in consultation with federal health and safety experts, is investigating the possibility of a brain tumor cluster at Pratt & Whitney’s Connecticut plants. We have, with the help of local newspapers and TV stations running our story, compiled a list of over 87 confirmed Glioblastoma cases, we have an additional 41 confirmed cases with other forms of brain tumors at Pratt & Whitney. THIS IS WELL BEYOND THE PERCENTAGES!!!!!!!
We hope to inform you and engage your support for our efforts to help clean up this toxicity which we feel caused our husbands and many other deaths. We hope you will read on to see what our efforts have uncovered. We are involved in the largest study of its type in history which is being undertaken by the Universities of Pittsburgh and Chicago, under the direction of Dr. Gary Marsh, Dr. Frank S. Lieberman, both of the University of Pittsburgh and Dr. N.A. Esmen of the University of Illinois at Chicago with the cooperation of the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health through William Gerrish its Director of Public Health Communications.
